Tag: Staff Directory WordPress Plugin

No doubt you’ve heard that people generally tend to buy from businesses they know, like and trust.

Are you searching for quicker and simpler ideas to grow your business online and get people to stay longer on your site? Then one of the things you can do, is help your prospects get to know you and your organization better.

If you run a WordPress-powered site, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to add a directory plugin that will let you display information about your key partners, your team, or your staff.

In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to add an updatable simple faculty directory in your site using a free WP plugin.

How To Add A Staff List Directory To Your WordPress Site

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you easily staff.

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into the dashboard and go to Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new menu entry will appear on your WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

All of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.

Configuring Simple Staff List

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can just start adding new staff details at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualstaff into.

Staff Members – Groups

To set up your directory categories go to your WP dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This brings you to the Groups settings screen …

(Groups section)

Note: Adding groups works just like categories …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Create a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your category name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – This section lets you set up a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Enter your category description in this field (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to create your new group …

(Groups settings)

If you work with a medium to large organization, being able to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, developers, departments, etc.

Create as many categories and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a hierarchical structure …

(Nested categories)

Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering new items …

To edit or reassign Groups for an individual item, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …

The item will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update to save your changes …

To edit the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click the Update Group button after making changes …

Add as many group names as you need to until you have created your directory structure …

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested groups to your directory)

Once you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to begin to add names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your WP admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member settings …

(Add New Staff Member settings area)

This page provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member information and includes the following fields:

Name Section (1)

• Name: Type your employee’s name
• Permalink: You can edit each staff members’ permalink URL (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Enter your employee’s role here
• Email: Your staff member’s email address
• Phone Number: Type the employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type in your company’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type your employee’s Twitter username into this field (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your staff or faculty member here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign an employee or team member to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You will see options to enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

Now that you know what each section does, enter your employee’s details …

(Add New Staff Member fields)

After you are done entering details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …

(Groups feature)

Note: If you did not set up directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can create a group now by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for creating your group name will display, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on the Add New Group button …

The new group will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(New group added in Groups section)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to new employee details. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).

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After entering the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …

Click View Post …

You can make changes to your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

We have written a detailed tutorial on using the admin toolbar here:

• Using The WP Dashboard

Note: If an error shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have correctly set up your site’s permalinks …

(Page error? Check your permalinks)

If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• Changing Your WordPress Permalinks

Repeat the above process to add more details to your employee directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you have finished adding employee or team members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table with all your employees and the details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members list)

If you need to modify individual details, hover your mouse over their name, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit to update the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from your employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Editing Staff Members info)

If you have many entries, your table can grow quite large.

You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate entries if required …

(Search Staff Members search box)

The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …

(Screen Options tab)

Selecting a check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to update your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that entries appear on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to its new position …

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list)

Once you are done adding all of your staff listing details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory on your site.

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order that listings show on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order in your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to a desired location …

(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list items)

Once you are done adding member details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List also lets you create the style and layout of your employee directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

To customize the layout and style of your employee directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Templates page)

To customize your directory, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.

For example, here is the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)

Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To make these fields appear in your directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the example below …

(Use template tags to customize your directory page)

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Directory with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with editing code or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

As well as allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode section)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.

For example, a useful variation you can add to your page to display a list of employees belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Gold Level associates”])

You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Options screen)

Here you can edit some of the labels used in the plugin

Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export section …

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List site and contact the plugin developer.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use. Here are a few other plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Modern Team Staff Directory helps you collect your team information and showcase it anywhere on your site in beautiful grids, columns and tables. This premium plugin features over a dozen presets and provides editors that make it easy to edit and update your directory.

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Responsive Templates)

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

Staff Directory lets you easily create a directory of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.

You can also use custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)

More info:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.

The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.

For more details go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, as well as fields like job title, email, phone number, photo and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to click through from your list, grid, and table views to learn more about each employee in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just one single person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.

With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.

Detailed information about  each faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer)

This plugin uses custom post types for staff/employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an onsite employee directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)

Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.

Learn more here:

• Staffer

If the directory plugins listed above aren’t what you’re looking for, search the WordPress plugin directory or go online and search for:

• Add Staff Directory To WordPress
• WordPress Staff List
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a simple and easy-to-update directory of employees or team members to in WordPress.

Images used to portray sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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